Closure cap and package



Jan. 25, 1944. w, 9, WHITE [2,339,827

CLOSURE CAP AND PACKAGE Filed April 24. 1940 Patented Jan. 25, 1944' oLosUaii car AND menses William P. White, Glencoe, m, as'slgnor to White Cap Company, Chicago.

Delaware a corporation of Application April 24, 1940, Serial no. 331,339

6 Claims.

This invenion relates to improvements in closure caps for the hermetic sealing of packing vessels such as jars, bottles, cans and the like, and also to an improved package or packing container formed therewith.

The present invention relates to a type of cap which is adapted to be hermetically sealed on the packing vessel simply by forcing it downwardly onto the mouth thereof in such fashion as to compress an elastic gasket, which is carried by the cap, against a peripheral sealing surface of the vessel, the closure, after such application, being held in place by the frictional engagement of the compressed elastic gasket with the peripheral surface of the vessel.

The principal objects of the present invention are to provide such a closure cap which can be applied to the vessel with greater ease and cer tainty in the first instance, which will exercise very eifective frictional gripping and sealing action on the vessel and thereby hold its place with security and form a reliable airtight seal,

and-more particularly, one which can be easily removed from the vessel by proper manipulation ticular facility, to effect a re'-s eal, and which 1 In said drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a closure cap embodying my invention, looking at the under or interior side of same;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the gasket used in the cap shown in Fig. 1, same being shown partly in section;

cepting that the closure cap is shown in fully seated or'sealed position on the vessel; and

Fig. 5 is a detail section like Fig. 4 but showing the closure cap in sealed position on a packmercial canning of food stufis and the like.

such re-application may be; moved immediatelyto fully seated and sealed position on the vessel,

and will hold its place securely even though the sealing surface of the vessel may be moist or oily. Another object of the invention is the provision of such a closure cap possessing the advantages just mentioned and which is particularly adapted to accommodate variations in the size and contour of the vessels peripheral sealing surface and also form an immediate and completely hermetic seal thereon in spite of irregularities, such as crizzles, in said sealing surfaces.

Other and further objects of the invention will be pointed out or indicated hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon an understanding of the construction and operation of my improved closure cap or use of it in actual practice.

For the purpose of aiding in explanation of the invention, I show in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and hereinafter describe, certain forms in which it may be embodied. It is to be understood, however, that these are presented merely for illustration, and are notto be construed in any fashion for the purpose of limiting the appended claims short of the true and most comprehensive scope of the invention in the art.

apply it and make it stay in place.

ing vessel of slightly modified form, same constit lt a package or a packing container constituting my invention Closure caps of ,the types illustrated in my United States Patents NOS. 1,590,737 a d 1.307.137 have been used with success, particularly in com- It has been observed, however, that when subjected to the action of certain oils and acids which are present in many canned food commodities, rubber gaskets tend grow,, or swell somewhat in thickness" and in size. Thus, after a package containing such '-a material has been opened in the iirstinstance and only a part of the contentsnsed and the closure then re-applied, it has frequently occurred thatdue to the resulting growth of the gasket it has become very diilicult, after a subsequent removal of the closure, to re- It has been observed that under such conditions the closure sometimes exhibits a pumping action, viz., after being pressed down to position on the vessel, it will rise or creep upwardly again when the pressing-down force is removed. This is particularly likely to occur where oily products, such as salad dressings, peanut butter and the like, are

' involved, due to the fact that some of the oily substance usually finds its way onto more or less.

' of the area of the peripheral sealing surface when thepaekage is first opened, or even behind the if gasket, where it acts as a' lubricant preventing 1 the desired frictional holding effect or the gasket.

The diiiiculties are effectively overcome by the present invention in a fashion which will be pointed out presently'in connection with the i01 lowing description of the illustrative embodiments of the invention shown in the drawing.

It is to be understood that the closure cap formed with -a top portion ll, of proper size and shape to cover the mouth of the intended.

vessel, and a depending flange or skirt conforming to theperipheral shape of the mouth of the vessel but of a size to receive it with a clearance. The lower part II of the shell skirt is of downwardly flaring form, and'above said flaring part the skirt is of smaller diameter, constituting a constricting part II, the flaring part extending at a very obtuse angle from said constricting part. The marginal portion of the skirt is flanged inwardly and upwardly within the flaring part until its edge is well above the lower limit of the latter, as indicated at ll, so as to bite into and grip the lower end portion of the gasket l5 and securely fasten the gasket in the shell and hold it against upward displacement therein. The skirt is strongly resilient, and while the inexpansible top portion at its upper end and the relatively inexpansible bead formed by the flange H at its lower end retain the upper and lower extremities of the skirt from distension, the form of the skirt between the said upper and lower limits permits of some distension against the force of its inherent resilience, which distension tends to straighten or reduce the an-. gularity between the constraining part l2 and flaring part ll.

The gasket I! is elastically deformable in the sense that it tends to retm'n to its original shape and size when deformed under stresses. It ma be made ofrubber composition or other sealing material having the desired qualities. of imperviousness to air, elasticity, ability to resist oxidation, conformability and frictional characteristic or clinging ability against a smooth surface of glass or metal. It may be made of somewhat greater thickness than gaskets heretofore employed in caps of this general type.

In its primary or original condition, this gasket is of substantially cylindrical sleeve form. as illustrated in Fig. 2, and is of a diameter approximately the same as that of the lower. margin of the shell skirt and large enough in its undistended condition to admit the'sealing surface of the vessel. It has a further important characterizing feature,moreover,'in that its depth or length is such that it will extend -but slightly above the lower limit of the constricting part I! of the skirt when in its normal position in the shell, so that the upper terminus of the gasket will be closer to said lower limit than to the top I. Due to the fact that it is of materially greater diameter than the constricting part I! of the skirt, the gasket must be considerably compressed or constricted circumferentially, especially in it upper portion, when inserted-in the shell, in which condition it is held by the encom skirt portions when secured by the flange l4. and as a result of which it hugs the inner surface of the skirt very closely.

As a result, when in normal position in the shell, the gasket takes a downwardly flaring form and its upper portion extends inwardly from the constricting part of the skirt to an extent considerably exceeding the radial clearance between the constricting part gii and the peripheral sealing surface of the vessel for which the closure is designed. The upper portion of the vessel is illustrated at It and its peripheral sealing surface at Ila. This sealing surface is preferably assmoothandregularaspos'sibieaminsround mouth vessel, of approximately cylindrical form,

In the application of the'closure to th vessel,

it is first placed thereon in the relationship illustrated in Fig. 3, approximately concentrically, and with the sloping inner side of the gasket resting upon the upper and outer portion of the vessel wall. In this disposal it is to be observed that the sealing surface of the vessel enters the gasket at quite an acute angle, and that only a minor portion of the total height of the gasket is above the upper limit of the vessel's sealing surface, although the upper end portion of the gasket iuts inwardly beyond said sealing surface to a considerable extent. The closur is forced to sealed and seated position on the vessel by pressing it downwardly thereon, whereby the sealing surface is intruded within the upper constricted portion of the gasket, the gasket sliding downwardly on the sealing surface until the 010-- sure reaches its fully seated position, which is illustrated in Fig. 4.

Incident to this seating of the closure, the upper portion of the gasket is very hizhly compressed in the radial directions between the sealing surface of the vessel and the lower part of the constricting portion I! of the skirt, and, being elastically deformable, the gasket is thereby slightly elongated or elastically molded upwardly to a location only slightly above the lower limit of the constricting part l2. While the actual distanoetowhichthegasketiseiongatedllpwardly may vary with variation of the amount of clearance between the sealing surface and skirt, the anchorage of the gasket at its lower end to the skirt is effective to prevent the gasket's being movedup to the top oftheshell. Atthesame time, the spring action of the skirt is availed of, as the wedging action of the vessel against the elastic gasket expands or swings the lower end of the constricting part it outwardly a very slight distance, asillustrated in a somewhat exaggerated degree in Fig. 4. This places theskirt under tension and renders its inhermt resiliency effective to apply a oonstantly acting inward pressure against the upper portion of the gasket in r the radial direction. v

It is to be-observed accordingly, that when the closure is in seated position on the vessel the upper portion of the gasket is compressed very strongly between the constricting portion I: of

the skirt and the sealing surface of the vessel and compacted very closely upon the surfaces of those parts, which causes the gasket material to mold into all of the irregularities of those surfaces and eflect a very strong frictional engagement with the vessel and form a very tight hermetic seal. It is to be observed, however,

that this highly compressed portion of the gasket occupies only the lower part of the constricting portion l2, leaving the constricting portion and the flaring p rtion ll free to exercise their inward resilient action, and as a result, the entire spring pressure of the skirt is brought to bear on this relatively narrow, highly compressed, upper portion of the gasket.

As a result of the combined action of these several features, the closure may be seated on the vessel with comparative case, but when seated holds its place very strongly against internal pressure and forms an absolutely air tight seal. Moreover, since the outward deflection of the constricting part I! of. the skirt is quite slight. much less than it would be if a corresponding amount of gasket material were betending to slide the closure upwardly on thevessel.

These various characteristics of this closure cap are of particular utility in its use for resealing. In most packing procedures the closure will be applied in the first instance in vacuo and the resulting air pressure differential will supplement the friction action of the closure in holding it in place on the vessel. After the closure is once removed, however, and it is desired to re-apply it to the vessel by hand, the pressing down of the closure on the vessel will effect some compression of air within the package, which, of course, will exercise a tendency to force the closure ofi, particularly if the temperature of the confined air or of the remaining contents of the package is raised, as when it has been removed from a refrigerator and then left standing for a while at room temperature after resealing. Moreover, upon such re-capping, it almost always occurs that there is some liquid on the sealing surface and this acts as a lubricant tending to defeat the frictional clinging action of the closure, and also, the gasket may have become swelled somewhat from absorption of oils or acids from the contents of the vessel subsequent to the original sealing of it.

The present construction, however, efiectively overcomes all of these adverse factors, and even though all of them are present, the closure may be easily and quickly re-sealed on the vessel simply by pressing it downwardly thereon, and in this re-sealing operation, the closure reaches its sealed or seated position with somewhat of a snap action which indicates to the operator that it is completely seated and, as a matter of fact, ac-

tually assists in the final seating movement, es-

pecialiy when the closure is pressed on from a slightly canted position as is most conveniently done when re-applied by hand.

I attribute some of the above mentioned advantages to the combined arrangement whereby the full spring action of the skirt is concentrated upon only a relatively narrow area of the elastic gasket, viz., upon only the upper end portion of the gasket which lies within the lower portion of the constricting part of the shell skirt. One of the features which contributes to this is the fact that the gasket is definitely, locked in position in the shell so that its upper portion cannot be displaced to a position adjacent the top thereof, and, as a consequence, the inward reaction forces of the compressed gasket and tensioned skirt are effective upon a narrow circumferential zone of the sealing surface of the vessel in radial directions approximately perpendicular thereto.

Further advantages are attained by this construction, in that it permits the gasket to be made of materially greater thickness than is feasible when a long gasket is used, which increased thickness of gasket particularly qualiiles the closure to accommodate and function effectively upon vessels whose sealing surfaces vary considerably from the ideal or intended contour and size.

In Fig. I show a construction wherein the vessel is of slightly modified form, in that the sealing surface, here designated 18, terminates at its lower end at a slight inwardly extending shoulder I80 so located that when the closure is in fully seated position this shoulder will be somewhat below the lower terminus of the constricting portion II of the skirt. This shoulder, which may be continuous or discontinuous circumferentially of the vessel, forms a ledge 01' recess under or into which some of the elastic gasket material immediately adjacent the highly compressed area may seat and thus exercise additional retentive effect upon the vessel. The closure used with this type of vessel may be the same in all particulars as that above described.

To aid in removal of the closure from the vessel, the latter may be formed with a pry-ofi ledge IQ, of conventional form, located so that it is suitably spaced from the lower margin of the closure skirt when the latter is in seated position, to accommodate insertion of a prying implement between them whereby upward prying action may be exerted on the closure. In this fashion the closure may be removed without any deformation whatever and in condition to form a perfect re-seal in continued use.

What I claim is:

1. A closure for forming a frictionally retained hermetic seal on a packing vessel having a substantially cylindrical peripheral sealing surface of predetermined diameter comprising a shell having a top portion and depending resilient an-. nular skirt having a constricting upper portion and its lower portion flaring therefrom, and a sleeve gasket formed of elastic sealing material and of normal size to receive the sealing surface of the vessel without distension but having its lower periphery lying against the flaring portion of the skirt and its upper end portion circumferentially constricted within the shell so that its internal diameter is substantially less than the outer diameter of the sealing surface, the depth of 'the skirt exceeding the height of the gasket by approximately the depth of the constricting portion and the gasket being positioned -with its upper and entering only slightly into the latter, the gasket being secured at its lower end to the skirt to hold it against shifting bodily upward in the shell, whereby the upper end portion of the gasket is retained in position to be compressed between the sealing surface of the vessel and only the lower fraction of the constricting portion to form an air-tight seal and retain the closure securely in place by frictional gripping action exerted upon a narrow circumferential sealing zone spaced from the top.

2. A closure for forming a frictionally retained hermetic seal on a packing vessel having a substantially cylindrical peripheral sealing surface of predetermined diameter, comprising a shell having a top portion and depending resilient annular skirt, an upper part of saidskirt being formed as a constricting portion of size to en compass the sealing surface of the vessel with a clearance and the lower portion of the skirt flaring downwardly at an obtuse angle from said upper' part. and a sleeve gasket of elastically deformable sealing material disposed in the shell with its peripheral surface lying against the inner surface of the skirt, said gasket being of size to receive the sealing surface of the vessel without distension'but having its upper end portion circumfercntially compressed and contracted within the constricting portion to a size such that its internal diameter is materially less than the outer diameter of the sealing surface of the vessel,

lower marginal portions of the skirt being curled into gripping engagement with the lower end portion of the gasket and serving to fasten the gasket securely in the shell withits upper terminus located closely adjacent the ldiver limit of the constricting portion in position to be further compressed in radial directions between the lower part of the constricting portion and the cylindrical sealing surface of the vessel along only a narrow circumferential sealing -zone spaced from the top of the shell, whereby to form an airtight seal and retain the closure securely on the vessel by frictional gripping action .of the elastic gasket and resilient skirt concentrated upon said narrow circumferential sealing zone at a distance from the top.

3. A closure as specified in claim 2 and wherein the lower marginal portion of the shell skirt is flanged inwardly across the lower margin of the gasket and thence curled upwardly and outwardly to a position where its edge throughout its entire circumferential extentis embedded in the gasket. I

4. The combination of a closure as specified in claim 2 and a packing vessel having a substantially cylindrical peripheral sealing'surface extending from adjacent the mouth rim of the vessel to a point farther from the mouth rim of the vessel than is the lower limit of the constricting portion from the top of the closure shell.

the axial direction and ofapproximately cylin drical form in the zone thereof against which the gasket seats' and which cylindrical surface terminates at its lower end at a peripheral recess v upper portion of the gasket in directiohs sip--v which is spaced slightly farther from the mouth rim of the vessel than is the lower limit of the constricting part from the top of the shell.

6. The combination of a closure as specified in claim 2 with a vessel having a peripheral sealing surface which is of approximately cylindrical form at a substantial distance below its mouth rim, the constricting portion of the skirt being normally of approximately cylindrical form and the skirt being resiliently distensible outwardLv at the line of junction of its constricting and flaring ortions by pressuretransmitted through the upper portion of the gasket from the sealing surface of the vessel when said sealing surface is intruded within the gasket, whereby the resiliency distended skirt is rendered effective to exert its resilient reaction inwardly against the proximately normal to the sealing surface.

WILLIAM 1?. WHITE.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,5 9, 27. January 25, 19141;.

' WILLIAM P. WHITE.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the shove numbereci vpatent requiring correction as follows: Page 1, sec-- 0nd column, line 50, for "The" read -These-; page 5, first column, line #6, after "position" insert -"relative to the vessel mouth--; page II, sec-.

0nd column, line Zip-25, claim 6, for "resiliency" read resiliently-fi and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this 'correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case ii the Patent Office.

Signed and, sealed this 16th day of May, A 1 191m.

Leslie Frazer (Sea1) Acting Gonmissioner of Patents. 

